More Retail Development Coming to Suburban Plaza Area?
Decatur Metro | October 16, 2012 | 9:45 amEven before a new Walmart breaks ground at Suburban Plaza, Atlanta Land Group is looking to purchase land at the corner to Scott Boulevard and North Decatur Road – which includes Scott Baptist Church and residential homes – to build a retail development”. The Group has invited residents in the area to a meeting this evening to discuss purchasing their property. You can view the letter on the MANA website HERE.
Amy wrote in late yesterday…
Per a post on the Medlock Park community Facebook page, Scott Blvd. Baptist Church has already agreed to sell, and now a company called Atlanta Land Group has called a meeting for Tuesday night to discuss buying the houses on Blackmon and Barton between Scott and N. Decatur. The MANA zoning team came across this site by Fuqua Development that shows a plan for “urban retail development” on the church property: http://www.fuquadevelopment.com/files/atlanta/decaturcrossing.pdf
Related Posts:
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January 25, 2015 Construction on Fuqua’s “Decatur Crossing” Should Begin This Summer (11)
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October 1, 2014 L.A. Fitness Confirmed For Suburban Plaza, Walmart Opening Date Announced (0)
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December 12, 2012 Walmart Construction to Begin Early Next Year, Decatur Estate Moving to Lawrenceville Hwy (22)
Uh oh. This sets up the ultimate showdown. Good Growth Dekalb vs. Good Book DeKalb.
J_T, you’re so silly! That’d take GGD’s very valuable time away from tracking all the other anti Walmart groups’ activities– they gotta keep their priorities straight!
It’ll be nice to have new retail in the area. But traffic will be awful.
insert complaints about DeKalb County land-use and planning here
Once the church is gone, does that mean Melton’s will be able to start pouring liquor? Or is there another church too close?
There’s another church just across the street at the music store end of the strip. Itt’s closer than the Baptist Church.
Well, that’s a shame for anyone hoping to open a bar.
Very interesting. All the more reason to take a nice, long wait-and-see approach to any annexation efforts.
I would say the opposite. If Decatur wants any control or influence over the project we need to annex before it is developed under DeKalb county regulations. It also sounds like a good source of tax revenue.
One day, when Dectaur (and other cities) have gutted the county of all it’s monetary worth, Dekalb is gonna burn your city down.
I say that as someone who does NOT live in Dekalb (or Decatur).
I am struggling to understand why you follow this blog if you don’t live in the area.
I was considering moving to Decatur at one time, so I joined. Believe it or not, there are a lot of people who use this blog, and comment on the articles who do not live in CoD.
Control in what sense? We’ve had conversation after conversation that Decatur ordinances are outdated, so what do you see in the picture that Decatur needs to check? Does it need more unnecessary parking requirements, or just making sure they don’t add any in-law suites near by with a functioning stove?
Fuqua is a well-regarded developer and develops to maintain a reputation. What did the City of Decatur say about the Family Dollar store that just went up in Oakhurst? Huh?
What did you expect the city to say about it? And what’s wrong with it?
Oh, oh, oh — and let’s not forget the eyesore that was the Decatur Diner, complete with faux-painted blue marbled concrete blocks and signs on every window. Did the City of Decatur have “control” over that? If so, why did it look like a Color Tile imploded on top of a Waffle House?
Those of you who think the City of Decatur is some sort of paradise, why don’t you consider the real factor: Real estate. Nothing more, nothing less. Remember, in the game of Monopoly there’s a reason there are no city or county commission play pieces.
No, the city had no control over the colors of the diner, just like they have no control over any other colors. For that matter, no zoning jurisdiction has control over colors.
But governments do have control over the types of siding. The ordinance could require, for ex., 4-sided brick and specifically exclude painted tile.
That level of control is very rare and usually reserved for historic districts. It gets into aesthetics which is a slippery slope
One of the reasons Decatur is close to being a paradise is precisely BECAUSE somebody can paint blue faux marble on the outside of their restaurant if they want to. The tides are against us and over time, some aspects of our little city have become too precious for my taste. But we haven’t gone completely over yet.
Keep ‘er weird!
TESTIFY, sister!
Amen!
I think I’m the only one who loves the blue faux marble paint
I kind of liked it in tacky beach kind of way. It made me want to wear flip flops and sunscreen.
related:
across from the QT on Scott Blvd / Lawrenceville Hwy and Orion Dr, where several single-family homes were cleared for a multi-family development that fell through, Racetrac is seeking a zoning change and permits for yet another gas station
property ID 18-063-12-001
Z-12-18197
Application of Racetrac c/o Kathryn Zickert to rezone property from RM-HD (Multi-Family Residential) to C-1 (Local Commercial) district to allow a 5,928 square foot Racetrac convenience store.
SLUP-12-18198 … for gasoline pumps
SLUP-12-18210 … to allow an alcohol outlet (beer and wine)
community council: TODAY, 6:30 PM Stone Mtn Library
planning commission: Nov 1, 6:30 PM Maloof
Interesting. They’re building one across from the QT at Lawrenceville and Northlake Parkway. Seems they’re going to try to take QT on head-to-head.
Bummer though. That empty lot is the best thing in the area. They went out of their way to save the trees. It’d be a shame to see it leveled for a gas station.
Yeah, there’s that. I thought residents might be interested in the
. impact on the public investment in the Horse Farm
. impact on the incomplete bicycle trail (likely to follow Orion Dr)
. impact on South Fork Peachtree Creek
. impact on the residential neighborhood
. impact on adjacent redevelopment
It looks like the existing change in elevation across the site about 24 feet.
Update on the RaceTrac proposal: “DeKalb County’s District 4 Community Council unanimously shot down a proposal to rezone several acres along Lawrenceville Highway for an 18-pump RaceTrac gas station Tuesday, citing overwhelming community opposition.”
http://northdruidhills.patch.com/articles/community-council-shoots-down-racetrac-proposal
Here’s to lower gas prices via wars between the stores!
IMHO Dekalb County, especially this corner of it, doe not need to tear down existing properties to make room for new retail. It needs to make better use of the existing retail space it already has. Not NEW, IMPROVE.
Agreed, Bobby and Heather. For “convenience sake” of eastbound travelers on Lawrenceville Hwy., please just take two extra minutes to make the left into the QT. We don’t need a mirror of that gas station on the other side of the road.
On another note, did anyone look at the drawings for the proposed “Decatur Crossing”? Remind anyone of the Wells Fargo corner at the Edgewood Retail District?? Not that this compares in size to Edgewood, but that whole development is a complete mess to navigate. Wish for high-end retail and restaurants all you want here, but the median household income will not support it (insert Trader Joe’s discussion here). I’m all for redevelopment, but razing every bit of land in this part of north Decatur, which is already so over-commercialized with FAILING retail (ripe for redevelopment), to create future FAILING retail is absolutely insane. NO THANKS, FUQUA!!
I looked at the drawings in the brochure a couple of times, and I have convinced myself that those aren’t site specific drawings. Maybe they are taken from another project or just designed to give the general idea of what the developer wants to build.
I disagree. The reason that area can’t attract better or higher end retail is b/c of the conditions of the existing commercial buildings. There are several buildings that could/should be renovated or retrofitted for modern use, but that is cost-prohibitive for others. In this case, you simply can’t convert a church and old homes into usable retail space. We can argue until we are blue in the face about whether there are other or more suitable locations, but this may be the only one(s) for sale. (As an aside, those houses behind the church are a little of island of homes surrounded by commercial properties on all sides).
Further, this is how “progress” works. One old building get replaced or renovated, then the neighboring one, then the next, and so on. I could be wrong, but I don’t think this development would be on the table without WM and the planned improvements to Suburban Plaza. There has been lots of talk here about needing to improve the “Gateway to Decatur” a/k/a Scott Blvd. Some projects you will approve of. Some you won’t.
Let’s work on the progress at Suburban Plaza first, then move on to surrounding areas. And if you’ve ever worked with prospective developers before, you’ll know that the first thing they look at is the median household income of the area. They’re looking for buying power, not the condition of existing buildings. Pretty sad if the gateway to Decatur is a Wal-Mart. That property doesn’t support the kind of gateway retail their lovely renderings would like for you to envision. And “surrounded by commercial property on all sides”…my point exactly. Put yourself on that “little island”. If it were your home they were looking at razing, how would you react?
Better a WalMart than a slew of vacant auto dealerships. I wish developers would look at those properties instead of buying and tearing down a church, but I imagine there are environmental issues with the automobile lots.
Agreed. Of all of the buildings along that stretch of Scott, the church was the last one I thought needed to be torn down or renovated.
The congregation of Scott Baptist is, for the most part, extremely elderly. Some of the congregants no longer live in this area. Upkeep on those large buildings must be expensive and for a dwindling congregation, too expensive to maintain.
Perhaps the property would have been a good location for a charter school.
+1
Before the Suburban Plaza deal came up, I had never heard the term gateway to Decatur or that entrances and exits to the city gave you an idea of what the city was about. I just find it interesting that Dekalb Ave has looked junky as long as I have lived here, and I don’t remember such hype about having pristine enteances and exits. Just a thought…
Please excuse pre-caffination typos. And I obviously meant College. No more comments in the a.m. until I get that much needed 2nd cup.
They didn’t invite residents in the area to attend….I live on Barton Way right next to the church, and I was not contacted at all. Good thing I was able to hear about this from friends and the internet – or else my house probably would have been torn down with me in it.
Amy, no one can force you to move or sell your house.
Yes, they can through the use of eminent domain. After Kelo v New London, governments can even force you to sell to a private developer. It won’t happen here, but, yes, you can be made to sell.
Liz, eminent domain is the taking of private land for “public use” projects – this would not be considered one of those.
Check the case law she references – in that case it was ruled that the eminent domain applied to a private project.
The first sentence in Wikipedia:
“Kelo v. City of New London, 545 U.S. 469 (2005)[1] was a case decided by the Supreme Court of the United States involving the use of eminent domain to transfer land from one private owner to another private owner to further economic development.”
The USSC ruled that under the US Constituion, government entities could transfer land from one private owner to another, and that increased tax revenue satisfied the “public good” requirement. But, that ruling didn’t prevent states from amending thier own constituions to prevent such a transfer. There was a push by some states, including GA, to amend their constitutions after the ruling, but I don’t know if the GA Constitution has been amended. Anyone know the status?
I found this via Yahoo! search. I have no idea if it answers the question, though.
http://www.castlecoalition.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=255&Itemid=165
Will be sorry to see the church and the interesting little neighborhood leave but this news does not surprise me. Next to go may be the auto dealerships, lost to condo/apartment development. I hope that the church and other affected property owners make what they need to start over somewhere else. Who are the winners in this? City of Decatur residents on the north side, a part of town that was never part of the cool neighborhoods like Great Lakes or Glendale. Our property will become even more desirable and valuable to young couples who want to live in Swingin Decatur and walking distance to a great park, but also convenient shopping and even more restaurants. Of course, there will be plenty of hand wringing and predictions of Walmartagedon, but for me and the hundreds of small homeowners just outside of the hip neighborhoods, I’m feelin pretty good!
Why are you speaking for all those people as if they’ve already decided to sell their homes? Maybe they like their little n’hood and have no intention of going anywhere. I hope they give the middle finger to the developers!!
Note that none of this neighborhood is actually in the CO Decatur.
DeKalb County can’t move its operations out of Decatur fast enough for us, eh?
Some years back I considered buying a house on McCurdy, which is right up the street from the site in question. It backed up to a residential property facing Scott. Curious, I went to the county to check the zoning, The director told me the lot was cleared for anything right up to medium-grade industrial. Dropped that property from consideration immediately. Point is, the county has almost no restrictions on that land.
I have mixed feelings on this. We’ve been over to the Costco in Brookhaven many times and the Town Brookhaven development is kind of nice (if that is what they are thinking… probably something much smaller). Without eminent domain I don’t see how something like this gets started.
After attending the meeting last night, the baptist chuch is under contract and Fuqua is in fact the developer interested in that property. Some type of commercial development on that property will happen, contingent on the zoning change. Without 100% of property owners on each residential street agreeing to sell, the County cannot abandon the public use of those roads (Barton Way and Blackmon Dr.) and Atlanta Land Group cannot assemble the property. Price points per home that ALG was throwing out last night were in the $275k – $290k range, which is more than most of the homes on those streets could sell for on the market. Is it more than just about the money? It’s in the property owners’ hands now, so I guess we’ll wait and see…
Was GGD at the meeting?
No, they heard a rumor that a Target was going up on that parcel and decided it was fine because it wasn’t Wal-Mart.
oh i crack myself up